Is anyone safe anymore?

Boxing promoter Gabriel (Bebot) Elorde, Jr. will undergo a CT-Scan this morning in Makati to check if he suffered brain damage in the vicious mauling perpetrated by four men in his own brother’s restaurant beside the family’s sports complex in Sucat shortly after midnight early last Sunday morning.

Elorde, 46, was rushed to the Parañaque Medical Center for treatment after he was punched, kicked, and bashed in the comfort room of the restaurant in front of his mother Laura’s home. Doctors advised Elorde to check in at the hospital but he refused, preferring to go home after three hours of medical examination and treatment.

The restaurant–Marty’s–sits on Elorde territory but that didn’t deter the four roughhousers who took turns beating up the promoter. Elorde was blooded, battered, and bruised. It took seven stitches to sew up wounds in Elorde’s forehead, on his left eyebrow, and under his left eye. Yesterday, his left eye was still swollen shut and his right eye was half-open.

Elorde went to an ophthalmologist last Monday for tests as there appeared to be hemorrhaging in both eyes. He is scheduled to visit the eye doctor again for more tests. The good news is the vision in both eyes is not impaired, sighed Elorde’s wife Arlene in a phone conversation yesterday.

It happened after Elorde’s brother Johnny staged a boxing card at the sports complex last Saturday. With the show over at about 10:30 p.m., the Elordes treated their guests to dinner at Marty’s, a popular bar and restaurant along Sucat road.

Johnny’s wife Liza said the restaurant was packed. There were revelers celebrating a birthday on one end of the restaurant. Elorde, in fact, cautioned his guests not to get in the way of some rowdy customers who were drinking liquor.

At about 12:30 a.m., Elorde was ready to go home and went to the comfort room. Inside the comfort room with Elorde were four men. One of the four men was about to take a leak in a pail. Elorde called his attention and said to use the urinal instead. Apparently, the four men took Elorde’s advice badly.

Without provocation, one of the men kicked Elorde’s shin from behind. The impact buckled Elorde’s knees and he fell. Suddenly, another assailant threw a punch to the face, his fist wrapped in a belt with the buckle making contact. Still another kicked Elorde in the stomach as he lay prostrate on the floor.

As the mauling continued, one of Elorde’s nephews peeped into the comfort room and screamed for help. All hell broke loose as a free-for-all erupted. Elorde emerged from the comfort room a bloody mess. His face was grotesquely swollen and blood oozed from cuts all over his face and nose. I doubt if those men knew Bebot because if they did, they probably wouldn’t have beaten him up," said Liza.

The maulers fled but left behind ID cards in their wallets which were taken by those who came to Elorde’s rescue. The four men were identified to be 27, 30, and two were 35. A wallet of one of the assailants had some valium pills, a source said.

Believe it or not, when Elorde’s brother Johnny went to the Parañaque police station to report the incident, the assailants had gone to the same precint to complain that they were mauled at Marty’s. Charges and countercharges have now been filed.

Security guards at Marty’s said since the mauling, they’ve seen suspicious-looking men casing the joint in the wee hours of the morning, asking questions and taking photographs.

The Elordes said they want no trouble, realizing that one of the assailants supposedly comes from a prominent political family. They only want justice, fairness, and recompense as provided by the law.

Last Tuesday, Elorde was scheduled to accompany the First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and Mayor Lito Atienza in updating the press on the blockbuster March 15 Rizal Park boxing card at the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum in the Holiday Inn Hotel. Arlene came instead and explained to the First Gentleman why her husband couldn’t attend–he was at home, nursing severe injuries from the mauling.

Both the First Gentleman and Mayor Atienza offered to assist the Elordes in nailing the assailants.

The mauling, however, won’t hamper preparations for the Rizal Park card which is free to the public.

Elorde promised to be at the airport on Monday to welcome Manny Pacquiao’s opponent Serikzhan Yeshmagambetov who’s flying in from Kazakhstan with trainer Oleg Kovalchuk.

"It’s all systems go," said Arlene. "Bebot is still in bed and we’ve got more tests lined up for him. But he won’t miss this project for the world.

He owes a lot to the First Gentleman and Mayor Atienza so he wants to make sure the promotion is a big success. He’ll be in the airport to meet Serikzhan and I hope he’ll be able to join Manny and Serikzhan at the PSA Forum next Tuesday."

Is anyone safe anymore? Elorde, one of seven children and the oldest of three boys whose father Gabriel–the Flash–reigned as world junior lightweight boxing champion in 1960-67, was brutalized virtually in his own backyard, in the family compound. If you can’t be safe in your own home, where else can you seek refuge?

When will this brutality stop? The bombing in Davao City claimed several lives, including that of former Oriental superwelterweight champion Arman Picar who was killed in his workplace–in the waiting shed in front of the airport terminal. If you can’t be safe in your own workplace, where else can you find protection?

Now, more than ever, the government must put a stop to criminality, brutality, and senseless killing. Without peace and order, our country will never progress.